SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 320

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 29, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24
Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:39:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we need nurses, doctors, dentists and all sorts of initiatives in health care. The member starts out by saying that, but then he asks that the government not take action and that it jump ship. It makes no sense. The government also has a responsibility under the Canada Health Act. We are responsible for ensuring that people across the country, including Quebeckers, can access the health care they need. The act is clear on this. It is our responsibility. We must not dictate priorities to the provinces, but we must work in a spirit of co-operation. That co-operation certainly exists with Quebec's minister of health. Mr Dubé is very responsible. I absolutely respect Quebec's areas of jurisdiction, but we have a shared responsibility and I respect that too.
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Mr. Mario Simard
  • May/29/24 8:40:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really quite astonishing. The minister just said that he respects provincial jurisdictions. However, when it comes to pharmacare and dental care, the Quebec government has repeatedly said that these are inexcusable intrusions into Quebec's jurisdictions. Not only are these inexcusable and unenforceable intrusions into our areas of jurisdiction, but the government is going to create a need, only to turn around and underfund it in order to get out of this situation and balance its budget, as it constantly does when it comes to health transfers. I get the impression that the minister might not grasp all the nuances involved in health care, including the fact that it is a provincial responsibility. The federal government's only job is to transfer the money without getting involved.
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:41:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one thing is absolutely unacceptable and that is the fact that, for many years, people across Quebec have not had access to dental care. If the Government of Quebec wants to manage that program, I have no problem with that. That is doable, but it is absolutely essential that everyone in Quebec be able to access dental care. Why is the member opposite not working with me toward that goal? Minister Dubé had no problem with that. Why does the member have a problem with it?
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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)
  • May/29/24 8:42:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will not be sharing my time. I will mainly be directing my questions at the Minister of Health. My colleague from Courtenay—Alberni will ask the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions some questions later. The minister just gave all Canadians some good news, I think. Some 120,000 seniors have already received dental care. How many of them are Quebeckers?
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Hon. Mark Holland (Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • May/29/24 8:42:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is good news. Quebec has the highest take-up rate in the country. That is absolutely amazing. That being said, the regional statistics are not available yet, but they will be soon.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:43:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would also like to know the figures for British Columbia. How many seniors have already received their membership cards and been approved for the program? Once again, how many of those people are in Quebec and how many are in British Columbia?
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:43:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the take-up rate among dentists in British Columbia is quite high as well. I will check the figures for each region. I do not have them right now, but I will be able to provide that information soon.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:43:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Health have, on the ministry website, a count-up clock so that all Canadians can see the number of people who are taking advantage of this new program? Of course, the NDP, having worked hard to get this to fruition, are very proud of the pickup that we have seen in the first few weeks.
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:44:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the first order, I want to thank the member and his caucus for their extraordinary work on this. I think it is exactly what Canadians expect us to do: to work together and to get results. I think that is an excellent idea. It is something that we are investigating and something I know the member has raised with me before. I think it is important that Canadians be able to see those details in hard numbers.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:44:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in some regions of the country, there have not been a sufficient number of dentists who have signed up for the program. What steps are being taken to ensure, in rural and northern areas, that there are dentists available in the program?
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:44:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we are doing is dispelling a lot of misinformation. Unfortunately, we have seen, in particular areas, Conservative misinformation and other misinformation. They have tried to say that there is a lot of administrative burden. The good news is, when we get a few providers in a region, we see an explosion, because Canadians see that there was misinformation and that the program is easy to use.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:45:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the implementation elements is a portal for dentists so that all dentists are eligible, and they can simply bill the program. There is a target date. Will the ministry meet that date to ensure that all dentists are eligible for the program?
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:45:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely. I think the progress, so far, has been really amazing. We have heard from so many providers that they want the portal that the member is talking about. The date of July 8 is going to be met. We are on track for it. I think we are going to see a real lift in terms of the number of providers who participate and the number of people who get served.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:46:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the pharmacare bill that the NDP also pushed for, which we are happy to see move out of committee and back into the House, should be out of the House within the next few days with the support, hopefully, of all members of Parliament. Does the minister have a plan for negotiating with all provinces once the bill passes through the Senate and gets royal assent?
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:46:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to particularly thank the member for Vancouver Kingsway for his work. It was a pleasure to work with him on this. Absolutely. I have had conversations with every one of my provincial and territorial counterparts. It is my expectation that as soon as we get royal assent, we will be in a position to negotiate directly. I have already had early conversations with every jurisdiction.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:46:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for provinces that sign agreements with the federal government to move ahead on pharmacare, what will be the earliest date that diabetes medication, and contraception medication and devices will be covered?
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:47:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the good news is that the bill will be headed out of the House very soon. I hope it is going to get out of the Senate soon. It is my expectation that it would be certainly this year that we would see the first drugs flowing. It really would depend on how fast we can get royal assent, but I want—
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The Speaker
  • May/29/24 8:47:21 p.m.
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The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • May/29/24 8:47:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have some other questions that will not be as easy on minister. The first is the issue of keeping profit out of health care. Conservative premiers across the country have been trying to take advantage of the health care system to allow for-profit corporations to take over. Can the minister explain to Canadians what he is doing to stop Conservative premiers from strangling the health care system and allowing profit to take over?
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • May/29/24 8:47:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the first thing is the interpretation letters that we need to issue, which I think will be critically important in helping to stem that. Second, we recognize that provinces may have taken some actions coming out of COVID to try to reduce burden but that we need to see the gaps closed and public systems protected. Under the Canada Health Act, we have made reductions in instances where private health care has been present, and we have the ability to do that in other places.
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